Car chase ends with crash into Burke

There was some commotion on South Quad Thursday, April 17 when a brief car chase ended with a collision into Burke Hall.

The car chase started when Licking County Sheriff Officers tried to pull over William Beatty, 46, from Newark, for only having one working headlight on Ohio 16.

He refused to stop his car, and so around 12:20 a.m. a brief car chase started. It ended a few minutes later when he crashed his 1998 Dodge Caravan into Burke.

According to the traffic crash report, Beatty “was speeding and could not negotiate a turn and ran off the driveway…striking a building and tree.” Police estimated he was going 55 miles per hour in a 20 mph area.

Beatty tried to run away but only made it about 100 yards before police caught up to him.

He had an outstanding warrant from another jurisdiction, which is why police think that he ran. He was issued citations for reckless operation, failure to signal, for not having two headlights and for fleeing the scene of a crime. He has been charged with failure to comply and his bond is set at $50,000.

The damage to Burke and the surrounding landscape is estimated to be about $500, according to the Ohio traffic crash report, though Denison’s Director of Security, Safety and Risk Management Garret Moore said that Burke was not damaged.

“The Sheriff’s Office was involved in a chase with the suspect and the chase ended on lower campus near Burke Hall,” he said.

Bob Cole, a Denison security monitor, was involved and wrote a witness statement for the Sheriff’s Office, according to Moore.